While Ill. and Iowa Resist, Fla. and Wis. Seek Unity

In sharp contrast to their fellow Midwesterners in Minnesota,
members of the Illinois Education Association are dead set against the
"principles of unity" for merging their national affiliate with the
American Federation of Teachers.

When the approximately 1,000 delegates from the IEA gathered last
month in Chicago for the association's Representative Assembly, 75
percent voted against a national merger. Not even appearances by Bob
Chase, the president of the National Education Association, and
Illinois' own Reg Weaver, the NEA vice president, could sway the
delegates.

The actions of the Illinois affiliate, as well as NEA locals in
other states, suggest that a single, 3.26-million-member teachers'
union is not a done deal.

Delegates to the NEA's Representative Assembly, set for July 1-6 in
New Orleans, will be asked to approve the principles to allow merger at
the national level to move forward. Under the principles, state
affiliates would be encouraged to unify, but not required to do so.

George King, a spokesman for the 98,000-member Illinois association,
stressed that the delegates who attend the NEA's meeting are not
obligated to vote against merger.

Still, Illinois teachers think about their own state, where the
Chicago Teachers Union dominates the 75,000-member Illinois Federation
of Teachers, the aft affiliate. Members are worried about "the
potential domination of bloc voting by the likes of the city of
Chicago" under a merged Illinois union, Mr. King said.

AFL-CIO Worries

Delegates want to preserve the NEA's tradition of one person, one
vote, Mr. King said, and are wary of affiliating with the AFL-CIO, to
which the AFT belongs. The Illinois Education Association has been
pursuing a bipartisan political strategy that would be at odds with the
umbrella labor organization's support of Democrats, he said.

Elsewhere across the nation, the principles of unity have been a big
topic this spring as NEA state affiliates hold their annual meetings,
most of which conclude next month. Top NEA leaders have been appearing
at question-and-answer sessions to discuss the agreement.

In general, members of the AFT aren't taking similar votes on a
merger, according to Janet Bass, a spokeswoman for the federation. The
400,000-member New York State United Teachers, however, does plan to
consider a resolution on a national merger at its meeting later this
week.

In Iowa, 73 percent of the more than 400 delegates to the
39,000-member Iowa State Education Association meeting voted this month
to continue their opposition to a merger as long as the new national
organization would be affiliated with the AFL-CIO.

Other NEA state affiliates that have debated national merger include
Kentucky, with 37,000 members, and New Hampshire, with 12,000. Kentucky
delegates defeated a motion supporting the concept of merger, but
adopted no official position. They plan to hold a forum on the issue
before July, said Janet Carrico, KEA's president. In New Hampshire,
delegates voted overwhelmingly against it.

While delegates to the 9,400-member Delaware State Education
Association didn't take a formal vote, many members there are concerned
that their small state's voice would be lost in a much larger national
organization, said Pamela T. Nichols, the association's
spokeswoman.

Mel Myler, the executive director of NEA-New Hampshire, noted that
the proposed voting rules for the "United Organization"--as documents
currently refer to the merged national--include secret ballots, but
call for votes to be "weighted" based on the size of the delegations to
a convention and for vote counts to be recorded by state and local
affiliates.

"That's a union model," Mr. Myler said. "That is a serious breach to
those of us who have been involved in NEA."

Weighing the Options

In Wisconsin, where the NEA and AFT affiliates have been awaiting a
national agreement before drafting their own merger accord, the board
of directors of the 83,000-member Wisconsin Education Association
Council recommended this month that delegates support the
national-unity principles.

In Florida--where state leaders have been eager for a
merger--delegates to the 60,000-member Florida Teaching Profession-NEA
meeting will be asked next month to approve not only the national
principles, but also a set of tenets for forging a single state
teachers' union.

The 11,000-member Montana Education Association voted this month to
approve a new constitution to merge with the 5,000-member Montana
Federation of Teachers.

Both the Missouri NEA, with 27,000 members, and the 6,300-member
Wyoming Education Association voted in support of the national-unity
principles.

California, North Carolina, South Dakota, and Texas are keeping
their options open.

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